UPDATE: Menzies confirms trip to Lubbock, tells newspaper he has no interest in Tech job

New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies calls to his team during the second half of the Western Athletic Conference tournament championship NCAA college basketball game against UT Arlington, Saturday, March 16, 2013 in Las Vegas. New Mexico State won 64-55

New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies said he was in Lubbock on Tuesday but has no interest in pursuing Texas Tech's open basketball coaching position, the Las Cruces-Sun News reported Tuesday evening.

An El Paso news station had earlier reported Menzies arrived in Lubbock to speak with Tech officials about the job.

Menzies told the newspaper, though, he plans to remain the head coach of the Aggies, a team he has led to three NCAA Tournaments in three seasons as its coach.

Tech is now almost two weeks into a search for a permanent coach to replace Billy Gillispie, who resigned in September. Chris Walker, who served as an interim coach this season while guiding Tech to an 11-20 record and its first Big 12 Tournament win since 2010, is considered a strong candidate.

Other coaches Tech has had discussions with about the position, according to sources: Former Nebraska coach Doc Sadler, Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton, Indiana assistant Steve McClain and Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson.

The A-J has learned Hinson is no longer a candidate for the position, but he did confirm with the Southern Illinoisan newspaper that he did meet with Tech officials.

"I was not searching for, nor am I seeking a job," Hinson told the newspaper. "I am extremely happy at Southern Illinios, but I honored their request and sat down and visited with their administration."

If Walker is not retained, Tech will begin next season with its fourth head coach in four seasons.

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Alford signed a contract extension a couple of weeks ago that will keep him in Albuquerque thru the 2022-23 season. I doubt TT has the kind of money for a buy out and besides, why in the world would he want to come to this basketball wasteland?

The fact that a coach from NMSU is not interested in TTU shows just how far this program has sunk. Someone who would rather stay in the Western Athletic Conference rather than be in a major BCS conference illustrates that TTU's program has just about hit rock bottom. The same thing may very well happen to women's basketball if the Curry debacle continues another year or two. That program will become a national case study in how to go from national prominence and respect--an elite team--to irrelevance.

Do not hire Scott Sutton! He's probably in the bar right now w/ Gillespie. We don't need to go through that again. Definitely not Doc Sadler. Give Walker a chance. He did a great job this year and is a great recruiter. If not Walker, Bonewitz would be my next choice. A young Tech graduate who has already proved that he can coach...sound familiar?

Why would Alford want to follow Bobby and Pat Knight. I don't blame Walker for 12/13. The record fairly reflected the lack of talent. If walker was responsible for the All-Amer recruit from Kimball, then he s/b HC. TTU had only 1 other, Jason Sasser. Was he from Kimball also? I know we didn't get Jason's younger bro, Jeryl, who went to SMU.

So far there has not been any names thrown out that creates any excitement. If Walker can sign Keith Fraizer from Kimball that would settle the question of his ability to recruit. Nobody else has the enthusiasm or wants the job like Walker does. Hopefully, Kirby will come back and announce that after a thorough search, he thinks that Walker is the best candidate for the job. And yes he did do a good job this year considering the hand that he was dealt. Good luck Coach Walker.